17/10/2013
Total Art Journal: Call for Papers
The Maternal Turn: Contemporary Performance and Maternal Aesthetics
Guest editors Myrel Chernick and Jennie Klein
What does it mean to perform maternity? What is a maternal aesthetic, and how might it be expressed through imagery and actions? For this issue of Total Art, we are seeking submissions on contemporary performances of the maternal. Inspired by Nicholas Bourriaud’s idea of relational aesthetics and Claire Bishop’s notion of the social turn in contemporary art, we are interested in work that engages others through relations that are affective and “maternal,” even when not performed by a mother for her biological child. Topics that are of particular interest to us include the following:
Maternity and collaboration
Maternity, collectivism and social relations
The historical performance of maternity.
The performance of maternity and the maternal body
The performance of biological and non-biological maternity, including non-normate maternity, adoptive mothers, infertility, and the performance of motherhood
The ethical implications of working with children
Mothers who collaborate with their children.
What it means to be a mother and an artist today
Submissions are due November 1, 2013. Please send submissions to [email protected]
